


Buttons for Little Boy Blue

by heihua



Category: Coraline - All Media Types, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Creepy, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 08:16:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8136964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heihua/pseuds/heihua
Summary: Be careful who you talk to Noctis. You never know who's listening.
You never who's willing to take you into their arms--and never let go.





	

The doll arrives on the day of Noctis’ tenth birthday.

It looks exactly like him, even down to the Caellum family design stiched into the the same exact jacket Noctis wore for the celebration. The security team scours the camera thrice over to make sure no unwanted guests had arrived before the celebration was to occur and all members of the Kingsglaive are ordered to be on high alert for any sort of activity the whole night.

The doll is also inspected and tested for bombs, poison, spikes and any other possible weapon that could be used for assassination or a means to harm the prince. They find none with the doll and it is finally deemed safe enough to be put into the present pile.

Among the luxurious gifts and lavish decorations the doll quickly drowns, unassuming and plain in it’s design.

It is for that exact reason that Noctis notices it first.

“Look Ignis!” Noctis exclaims, holding out the doll. “It looks just like me.”

Ignis leans closer, scrunitizing. “It certainly does resemble you, highness. Whoever designed it must be very observant.”

Notic smiles, holding the doll in his arms. “I’m going to call you Noctis Jr.”

 

 

 

Noctic Jr. stays by Noctis’ side for a month. It sleeps with him in bed, sits by his side during meals and is even given a special seat in the training room so it stays clean from dust while Gladiolus teaches Noctis how to fight. It is there to witness every moment of heartbreak when Regis has to decline reading Noctis a bedtime story because urgent news had to be reported. It is there to witness every moment of loneliness when Noctis is left alone in the palace, Ignis and Gladiolus too busy with their duties to spend time with him so he sits friendless in the yawning silence, Noctis Jr. the only warm thing by his side.

“I wish you could talk Noctis Jr,” Noctic sadly tells his only companion, brushing the soft, dark fabric hair out of the doll’s black button eyes. “Then it wouldn’t be so boring.”

That night, when Noctis goes to sleep he swears that in the moments just before he’s fully asleep, he hears a voice humming by his ear.

In his dreams, it is no longer humming but singing something distinct, with discernable words. The voice that sings is not so much a single voice but a chorus of voices but too high and breathy like wind mimicking a human voice.

The wind voices sing—

_“We are small_

_But we are many,_

_We are many_

_We are small_

_We were here before you rose,_

_We will be here when you fall.”_

\--and Noctis, even unconscious and tucked beneath a blanket thicker than his own body, shivers.

 

 

 

The next morning, Noctis Jr. is missing.

None of the servants have seen it. Even Ignis, who comes to wake Noctis up and is always observant of his surroundings, has no memory of seeing it on the bed that morning.

Concerned of a possible security breach, Regis has a member of the Kingsglaive stay by Noctis’ side at all times during the day. It may have just been the doll that had gone missing but the implications of a stranger being able to access the prince in his own bedroom, was enough for everyone to be cautious.

Fortunately, the culprit for the kidnapping of Noctis Jr. is found in the afternoon. Noctis almost catches it, but it was too fast and slipped right past Noctis’ fingers. Luckily, Noctis found his doll again and Noctis Jr. was in one piece—mostly.

“The rat ripped the jacket.” Noctis glumly tugs at the back of Noctis Jr. where there is a small tear in the fabric.

“I’m sure one of the maids can repair that,” Ignis assures him. Then he frowns. “But is rather worrisome that a rodent was able to sneak into your highness’ room. I shall ask to see if we can get someone to look at your room for any possible holes or burrows.”

It would have been the end of that, had Noctis not noticed the small door-shaped outline in the wallpaper just a couple feet from where he had saved Noctis Jr. from the rat.

It’s enough to give Noctis pause and he stares at the shape with fascination and curiousity for he has never seen this door before, no matter how many times he’s walked through this hallway. Ignis, already ahead and looking to report the incident to the king and the Kingsglaive, does not appear to notice.

But it remains with Noctis, even as he goes to sleep for that night, Noctis Jr. placed on top of his pillows, it’s black button eyes watching him.

 

 

 

Two days later, Noctis returns to the door.

The door is small, just enough for Noctis to crawl through if he went through on all fours, but with it all covered by wallpaper Noctis knows he won’t be able to open it. Not to mention the door’s keyhole was shaped differently than any of the other doors in the palace; there was no way Noctis would have the key. He couldn’t ask Ignis or his father either, for they would grow suspiscious and most likely have the door covered so Noctis couldn’t find it again.

No, this door would be Noctis’ secret.

The little prince looks down at his doll. “We’re on our own here Noct Jr. We’re gonna have to search for it on our own.”

Noctis Jr. bobs it’s head in response and Noctis beams—even if it was just a doll it felt nice to have company.

 

 

 

Noctis’ search for the key to the tiny door is quickly put on hold, however, when he becomes bedridden with fever. He’s delirious, never quite asleep but never quite awake, constantly shifting between two worlds for nearly two days and one night.

It’s because of this, that he never notices Noctis Jr. missing from his bedside.

All the healers and guards and even the king do not notice the doll’s absence either, too focused on watching over Noctis.

But when Noctis manages to finally fall fully asleep and wakes up the next morning, Noctis Jr. is right where he usually is: at the top of his pillows in the center of the bed.

Only this time, there’s a black, metal key in it’s plush arms.

 

 

 

Noctis carefully cuts the wallpaper around the door, breath held as tightly as his grip on Noctis Jr. as he listens for the footsteps of passing guards.

(He hears nothing. There is only the silence of a forgotten passage, of another place that sits in a place that times does not comprehend.)

When the door is finally revealed, Noctis grins in triumph and pulls out the key. He pushes it into the keyhole, delighted to see that it fits and turns.

There is a _‘click’_ that sounds both close yet eerily far away.

Noctis swings open the door to find himself face-to-face with a dark, yawning tunnel and a faint door-shaped light in the distance. The tunnel smelled of things old and musty, like toys locked away in a box collecting dust but had finally been exposed to the open air now that the box had been opened and for a moment, Noctis hesitates.

If the guards were to find Noctis out of his bed, there would be an uproar in the palace; his father would be alerted and all of the royal staff would begin searching for him. He would make his father and Ignis and Gladiolus worry.

But then Noctis thinks of how he never sees his father anymore because of his duties, how sharply Ignis cuts him off when Noctis asks to look for books he could read for leisure and how rough the wooden sword cuts into his palms when Gladiolus strikes at him during training. He thinks of his school, where all the children ever ask him about are his riches and his life in the palace but never about him.

That is all Noctis needs, to crawl into the tunnel, Noctis Jr. tucked in the fold of his arms and the small door swinging close behind him in the dark, silent hallway.

 

 

 

He’s back in the palace.

Disappointment sinks heavy in Noctis’ stomach and his feet drag across the carpet back towards his room. He holds Noctis Jr. tighter, as if trying to compensate for the lonely morning to come.

He arrives at his room, but the lights are on.

The lights are on and there is an unknown woman, smiling, as she sits by his bed.

The woman could be a maid that was tasked to tuck him into bed tonight and had come back to check up on him.

Except it wasn’t possible because instead of eyes, there were black buttons sewn into the woman’s face.

Noctis takes a single step back. “Who are you?”

The woman continues to smile, genuine and gentle. “Why Noctis, I’m your Other Mother.”

**Author's Note:**

> my brain: it's almost Halloween you should try writing horror again  
> me: okay sounds good. i'll probably end up writing something that's more low-key creepy than anything  
> my brain: and you should write it about a game you'll never play cause you don't have the console or the time to play it  
> me: wait what  
> my brain: and cross it over with Coraline  
> me: but why  
> my brain: cause you gotta


End file.
